A term of office is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject to re-election. Some jurisdictions exercise term limits, setting a maximum number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office.

In the United Kingdom Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons are elected for the duration of the parliament. Following dissolution of the Parliament, a general election is held which consists of simultaneous elections for all seats. For most MPs this means that their terms of office are identical to the duration of the Parliament, though an individual's term may be cut short by death or resignation. An MP elected in a by-election mid-way through a Parliament, regardless of how long they have occupied the seat, is not exempt from facing re-election at the next general election.

The Septennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned; this maximum period was reduced to five years by the Parliament Act 1911. Prior to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 parliaments had no minimum duration. Parliaments could be dissolved early by the monarch at the Prime Minister's request. Early dissolutions occurred when the make-up of Parliament made forming government impossible (as occurred in 1974), or, more commonly, when the incumbent government reasoned an early general election would improve their re-election chances (e.g. 2001). The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 mandated that Parliaments should last their full five years. Early dissolution is still possible, but under much more limited circumstances.

Because the government and Prime Minister are effectively indirectly elected through the Commons, the terms of Parliaments and MPs do not directly apply to offices of government, though in practice these are affected by changes in Parliament. While, strictly speaking, a Prime Minister whose incumbency spans multiple Parliaments only serves one, unbroken, term of office, some writers may refer to the different Parliaments as separate terms.[1]

The office of the leader of the devolved administrations has no numeric term limit imposed upon it. However, in the case of the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government there are fixed terms for which the legislatures can sit. This is imposed at four years. Elections may be held before this time but only if no administration can be formed, which has not happened yet.

As a former British territory following the Westminster System, there are many similarities with the United Kingdom, although with some variations based on local customs, the federal system of government and the absentee monarch.

The Governor General is appointed by the monarch as his/her personal representative on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serves for an indefinite term, though the normal convention is 5 years. Similarly, the Lieutenant Governors, who represent the monarch at the provincial level, are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister (usually also with consultation of the relevant provincial premier), and generally also serve 5 year terms by convention. The territories have Commissioners, who are not representatives of the monarch, but are instead appointed by and represent the Governor-in-Council (i.e. the federal cabinet), and conventionally serve for about 5 years.

Similar to the United Kingdom, MPs serve for the duration of the Parliament. They may resign before the end of a Parliament or be elected in by-elections during the middle of a Parliament.

Under the Constitution Act, 1867, a Parliament may last for a maximum of 5 years from the most recent election before expiring, although all Parliaments to date have been dissolved before they could expire. Bill C-16, introduced in the 39th Parliament, provided for fixed election dates every 4 years on the third Monday in October, beginning in 2009. However, the Prime Minister may still advise the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at any time.

As in the United Kingdom, the cabinet and head of government are indirectly elected based on the composition of the House of Commons, they are not technically affected by the terms of legislators or Parliaments. In practice however, the terms of government office holders are affected by changes in the House of Commons, and those who serve for multiple consecutive Parliaments are generally considered to have served a single term. The term of a government generally ends when it is defeated on a confidence matter or the governing party fails to gain enough seats in a general election.

Senators are appointed to the Canadian Senate to represent a province by the Governor General of Canada on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serve until the mandatory retirement age of 75. Senators appointed before the passage of the British North America Act, 1965 served for life. Senators may also resign from office or be expelled from the Senate.

Provincial legislatures and the legislature of the Yukon function very similarly to the federal House of Commons. MLAs (called MPPs in Ontario, MNAs in Quebec, and MHAs in Newfoundland and Labrador) serve for the duration of the legislature, though they may resign before the legislature is dissolved or be elected in by-elections between general elections. The legislatures of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut operate using a consensus model, but are similar otherwise. The premiers and their cabinets are selected in the same way as in the House of Commons, and like at the federal level, the term of a provincial government can be ended by defeat in a general election or the loss of the legislature's confidence.

All provincial legislatures except that of Nova Scotia have fixed-term election legislation in place, as does the legislature of the Northwest Territories. Premiers may also advise Lieutenant Governors to dissolve legislatures at any time before the prescribed election date.

Numbers in years unless stated otherwise. Note that some countries where fixed-term elections are uncommon, the legislature is almost always dissolved earlier than its expiry date. "Until removed from office" refers to offices that don't have fixed terms; in these cases, the officeholder(s) may serve indefinitely until death, abdication, resignation, retirement, or forcible removal from office (such as impeachment).

In cases where the head of government is a different person from the head of state, its term of office is identical to the chamber that elected it (the legislature if it is unicameral, or most usually the lower house if it is bicameral), unless it doesn't survive a vote of no confidence.

^In this country the ‘’prorogatio’’, unlike the real extension of the term, does not affect the duration of the electoral mandate, but only concerns the exercise of the powers in the interval between the deadline, natural or anticipated, of this mandate, and the entry into office of the new elected body Buonomo, Giampiero (2003). "Norme regionali annullate, ma sulla «prorogatio» del Consiglio passa il federalismo". Diritto&Giustizia edizione online. – via Questia(subscription required)

1.
English-speaking world
–
Approximately 330 to 360 million people speak English as their first language. More than half of live in the United States, followed by some 55 million in England. English is the third largest language by number of speakers, after Mandarin. Estimates that include second language speakers vary greatly, from 470 million to more than 1 billion, david Crystal calculates that non-native speakers as of 2003 outnumbered native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. When combining native and non-native speakers, English is the most widely spoken language worldwide, there are six large countries with a majority of native English speakers that are sometimes grouped under the term Anglosphere. They are, in descending order of English speakers, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, other substantial communities of native speakers are found in South Africa, and Nigeria. Also there are countries where in a part of the territory English became a language, e. g. Colombias San Andrés y Providencia. This was a result of the influence of British colonization in the area, English is one of the eleven official languages that are given equal status in South Africa. It is also the language in current dependent territories of Australia and of the United States. Although the United States federal government has no official languages, English has been official status by 32 of the 50 state governments. It is, by treaty, the official language for aeronautical. English is one of the languages of the United Nations and many other international organizations. In 2012, excluding native speakers,38 percent of Europeans consider that they can speak English, in publishing, English literature predominates considerably with 28 percent of all books published in the world and 30 percent of web content in 2011. This increasing use of the English language globally has had a impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death. English itself has more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole. Variation in Nonnative Varieties of English, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Census 2011, Key Statistics for Northern Ireland December 2012, language in England and Wales,2011. Language Use in the United States,2011, Population by mother tongue and age groups,2011 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories

2.
Elected office
–
An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority. A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in administration or government, through either election, appointment, selection. A bureaucrat or civil servant is a member of the bureaucracy, an elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an election. Officials may also be appointed ex officio, some official positions may be inherited. A person who holds an office is referred to as an incumbent. The word official as a noun has been recorded since the Middle English period and it comes from the Old French official, from the Latin officialis, the noun use of the original adjective officialis from officium. The meaning person in charge of public work or duty was first recorded in 1555. The adjective is first attested in English in 1533 via the Old French oficial, the informal term officialese, the jargon of officialdom, was first recorded in 1884. An officialis was the term for any member of the officium of a high dignitary such as a governor. The 1983 Code of Canon Law gives precedence to the title Judicial Vicar, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches uses only the title Judicial Vicar. The title of principal, together with that of vicar-general, has in Anglicanism been merged in that of Diocesan chancellor of a diocese. The term officer is close to being a synonym, a functionary is someone who carries out a particular role within an organization, this again is quite a close synonym for official, as a noun, but with connotations closer to bureaucrat. Any such person acts in their capacity, in carrying out the duties of their office, they are also said to officiate. A public official is an official of central or local government, some examples, An official holiday is a public holiday, having national recognition. An official language is a recognised by a government, for its own use in administration. An official spokesperson is an individual empowered to speak for the government, or some part of it such as a ministry, on a range of issues and on the record for the media. An official statement is an issued by an organisation as an expression of its position or opinion. Official policy is policy publicly acknowledged and defended by an organisation, in these cases unofficial is an antonym, and variously may mean informal, unrecognised, personal or unacknowledged

3.
Re-election
–
The incumbent is the current holder of a political office. This term is used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat, in general, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections. The timing of elections may be determined by the incumbent instead of a set schedule, for most political offices, the incumbent often has more name recognition due to their previous work in the office. Incumbents also have access to campaign finance, as well as government resources that can be indirectly used to boost a campaign. An election in which no incumbent is running is called an open seat, because of the lack of incumbency advantage. In the United States, incumbents traditionally win their partys nomination to run for office, unseating an incumbent president, governor, senator or other figure during a primary election is very difficult, and even in the general election, incumbents have a very strong record. For instance, the percentage of incumbents who win reelection after seeking it in the U. S. House of Representatives has been over 80% for over 50 years, and is often over 90%. However, this rate may be inflated, as incumbents that feel unlikely to win may decline to run for reelection. Additionally, shifts in congressional districts due to reapportionment or other factors may make it more or less likely for an incumbent to win re-election over time. When newcomers look to fill an office, voters tend to compare and contrast the candidates qualifications, issues positions. Elections featuring an incumbent, on the hand, are as Guy Molyneux puts it. Voters will first grapple with the record of the incumbent, only if they decide to fire the incumbent do they begin to evaluate whether the challenger is an acceptable alternative. Political analysts in the United States and United Kingdom have noted the existence of a surge in which first term representatives see an increase in votes in their first election. This phenomenon is said to bring an advantage of up to 10% for first term representatives, however, there exist scenarios in which the incumbency factor itself leads to the downfall of the incumbent. Nick Panagakis, a pollster, coined what he dubbed the incumbent rule in 1989—that any voter who claims to be undecided towards the end of the election will probably end up voting for the challenger

4.
Westminster system
–
The Westminster system is a parliamentary system of government modelled after that which developed in the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British parliament, the system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature. However, some colonies have since adopted either the presidential system or a hybrid system as their form of government. Examples include Queen Elizabeth II, the governors-general in Commonwealth realms, or the presidents of many countries, exceptions to this are Ireland and Israel, whose presidents are de jure and de facto ceremonial, and the latter possesses no reserve powers whatsoever. A head of government, known as the minister, premier. While the head of state appoints the head of government, constitutional convention suggests that a majority of elected Members of Parliament must support the person appointed. If more than half of elected parliamentarians belong to the political party. An exception to this was Israel, in which direct prime-ministerial elections were made in 1996,1999 and 2001, an independent, non-partisan civil service which advises on, and implements, decisions of those ministers. Civil servants hold permanent appointments and can expect merit-based selection processes, a parliamentary opposition with an official Leader of the Opposition. A legislature, often bicameral, with at least one elected house – although unicameral systems also exist, a lower house of parliament with an ability to dismiss a government by withholding Supply, passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion. The Westminster system enables a government to be defeated or forced into a general election independently, a parliament which can be dissolved and snap elections called at any time. Another parallel system of principles also exists known as equity. Exceptions to this include India, Quebec in Canada, and Scotland in the UK amongst others which mix common law with legal systems. Unlike the uncodified British constitution, most countries use the Westminster system have codified the system, at least in part. The pattern of executive functions within a Westminster System is quite complex, in essence, the head of state, usually a monarch or president, is a ceremonial figurehead who is the theoretical, nominal or de jure source of executive power within the system. In practice, such a figure does not actively exercise executive powers, in the United Kingdom, the sovereign theoretically holds executive authority, even though the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Cabinet effectively implement executive powers. In a parliamentary republic like India, the President is the de jure executive, even though executive powers are essentially instituted by the Prime Minister of India and the Council of Ministers. In Israel, however, executive power is vested de jure and de facto in the cabinet, as an example, the Prime Minister and Cabinet generally must seek the permission of the head of state when carrying out executive functions

5.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

6.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
–
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II

7.
Abdication
–
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. The word abdication derives from the Latin abdicatio meaning to disown or renounce, in its broadest sense abdication is the act of renouncing and resigning from any formal office, but it is applied especially to the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was applied to the disowning of a family member. Today the term applies to monarchs, or to those who have been formally crowned. An elected or appointed official is said to resign rather than to abdicate, a notable exception is the voluntary relinquishing of the office of Bishop of Rome by the Pope, called Papal resignation or Papal renunciation. Among the most notable abdications of antiquity are those of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Dictator, in 79 BC, Emperor Diocletian in AD305, perhaps the most notable abdication in recent history is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions. In 1936 Edward abdicated to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the Royal Family and it was the first time in history that the British or English crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after power was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, to give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII, His Majestys Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed. In Medieval Japan abdication was used often, and in fact occurred more often than death on the throne. A tradition developed that an emperor should accede to the relatively young. Thus, many Japanese emperors have acceded as children, some only 6 or 8 years old, several emperors abdicated while still in their teens. These traditions show in Japanese folklore, theater, literature and other forms of culture, over half of Japanese empresses abdicated once a suitable male descendant was considered to be old enough to rule. Since the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent reorganization of imperial succession, no emperor has abdicated, there is also no provision for abdication in the Imperial Household Law, the Meiji Constitution, or the current 1947 Constitution of Japan. On February 27,1946, the emperors youngest brother, Prince Mikasa, even stood up in the council and indirectly urged the emperor to step down. General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Emperor Hirohito retain the throne, MacArthur saw the emperor as a symbol of the continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. However, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency have denied there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor would require an amendment to the Imperial Household Act, on 8 August 2016 the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health, this address is interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate

8.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
–
The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is the lower house of the countrys parliament. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The House is a body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved, under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons and the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of a majority of its members. Although it does not formally elect the prime minister, the position of the parties in the House of Commons is of overriding importance, by convention, the prime minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of, the House of Commons. Since 1963, by convention, the minister is always a member of the House of Commons. The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the Government by rejecting a motion of confidence or by passing a motion of no confidence, confidence and no confidence motions are sometimes phrased explicitly, for instance, That this House has no confidence in Her Majestys Government. Many other motions were considered confidence issues, even though not explicitly phrased as such, in particular, important bills that form a part of the Governments agenda were formerly considered matters of confidence, as is the annual Budget. Parliament normally sits for a term of five years. Subject to that limit, the minister could formerly choose the timing of the dissolution of parliament. By this second mechanism, the government of the United Kingdom can change without a general election. In such circumstances there may not even have been a party leadership election, as the new leader may be chosen by acclaim. A prime minister may resign if he or she is not defeated at the polls. In such a case, the premiership goes to whoever can command a majority in the House of Commons, in practice this is usually the new leader of the outgoing prime ministers party. Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no mechanism for electing a new leader, when Anthony Eden resigned as PM in 1957 without recommending a successor and it fell to the Queen to appoint Harold Macmillan as the new prime minister, after taking the advice of ministers. By convention, all ministers must be members of the House of Commons or of the House of Lords, a handful have been appointed who were outside Parliament, but in most cases they then entered Parliament either in a by-election or by receiving a peerage. Since 1902, all ministers have been members of the Commons

9.
General elections (UK)
–
This is a list of United Kingdom general elections since the first in 1802. In 1801 the right to vote in the United Kingdom was a severely restricted practice, universal suffrage, on an equal basis for men and women over the age of 21, was established in 1929. Before 1918, general elections did not occur on a single day, the date given in the table for elections prior to 1918 is the date Parliament assembled after the election, which could be in the year after the general election. The majority figure given is for the difference between the number of MPs elected at the election from the party of the government. The Speaker is excluded from the calculation, a negative majority means that there was a hung parliament following that election. For example, in the 1929 election, Labour was 42 seats short of forming a majority, if the party in office changed the figure is re-calculated, but no allowance is made for changes after the general election. No attempt is made to define a majority before 1832, when the Reform Act disenfranchised the rotten boroughs, the Whig and Peelite Prime Ministers in the table below are regarded as having the support of all Liberals

10.
Parliament Act 1911
–
The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament and this Act and the Parliament Act 1949 must be construed together as one. The two Acts may be cited together as the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, following the rejection of the 1909 Peoples Budget, the House of Commons sought to establish its formal dominance over the House of Lords, which had broken convention in opposing the bill. The budget was passed by the Lords after the Commons democratic mandate was confirmed by holding elections in January 1910. The Act effectively removed the right of the Lords to veto money bills completely and it also reduced the maximum term of a parliament from seven years to five. Until the Parliament Act 1911, there was no way to contradictions between the two houses of parliament except through the creation of additional peers by the monarch. Queen Anne had created 12 Tory peers to vote through the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. E, gladstone won the 1868 election on the issue. However, in practice, this gave the Lords a right to demand that public support be present. It was the wisdom that the House of Lords could not amend money bills. This did not, however, despite the apparent contradiction, prevent it from rejecting such bills outright, in 1860, with the repeal of the paper duties, all money bills were consolidated into a single budget. This denied the Lords the ability to reject individual components and the prospect of voting down the budget was seemingly unpalatable. It was only in 1909 that this possibility became a reality, prior to the Act, the Lords had had rights equal to those of the Commons over legislation but, by convention, did not utilise its right of veto over financial measures. There had been an overwhelming Conservative-Unionist majority in the Lords since the Liberal split in 1886, with the Liberal Party attempting to push through significant welfare reforms with considerable popular support, problems seemed certain to arise in the relationship between the houses. This led to the 26 June 1907 resolution in the House of Commons declaring that the Lords power should be curtailed, put forward by Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In 1909, hoping to force an election, the Lords rejected the bill based on the government budget put forward by David Lloyd George. This action, according to the Commons, was a breach of the constitution, the Liberal governments representation in parliament dropped heavily, but the regime retained a majority with the help of a significant number of Irish Nationalist and Labour MPs. The Irish Nationalists saw the power of the Lords as detrimental to securing Irish Home Rule. Following the election, the Lords relented on the budget, and it passed the Lords on 28 April, the Lords was now faced with the prospect of a Parliament Act, which had considerable support from the Irish Nationalists

11.
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
–
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced fixed-term elections to the Westminster parliament. Under the provisions of the Act, parliamentary elections must be held five years. The Act received Royal Assent on 15 September 2011, only in the case of a vote of no confidence or with a two-thirds majority of the Commons may an election be called any earlier. Before the passage of the Act, Parliament could be dissolved by proclamation by virtue of the Royal Prerogative. This originally meant that the British monarch decided when to dissolve Parliament, the Septennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned, this period was reduced to five years by the Parliament Act 1911. The five-year maximum duration referred to the lifetime of the Parliament, section 3 of the Act originally stated that Parliament should be automatically dissolved 14 working days before a polling day of a general election. This was subsequently amended by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 to 25 working days, section 1 of the Act provides for such polling days to occur on the first Thursday in May of the fifth year after the previous general election, starting with 7 May 2015. The Prime Minister has the power, by made by Statutory Instrument under section 1. Such a Statutory Instrument must be approved by each House of Parliament and this second resolution must be made within fourteen days of the first. If the House of Commons, with the support of two-thirds of its total membership, in either of these two cases, the Monarch appoints the date of the new election by proclamation. Parliament is then dissolved 25 working days before that date, apart from the automatic dissolution in anticipation of a general election, section 3 provides that Parliament cannot otherwise be dissolved. The Act thus removes the traditional royal prerogative to dissolve Parliament, under section 7–, the prime minister is obliged to establish a committee to review the operation of the Act and to make recommendations for its amendment or repeal, if appropriate. The committee must be established between 1 June and 30 November 2020, and the majority of its members must be members of the House of Commons. The government initially indicated that a majority of 55 per cent of MPs would be needed to trigger a dissolution. Proposed amendments that would have limited the fixed-year terms to four years, backed by Labour, Plaid Cymru, and the Scottish National Party, were defeated. However, section 4 of the act postponed the election of the Scottish Parliament that would have been held on 7 May 2015 to 5 May 2016 to avoid it coinciding with the UK general election. Agreement of the People Legislative session Official text of the act, the summoning and meeting of new Parliaments in the United Kingdom

12.
Prime minister
–
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss members of the cabinet. In most systems, the minister is the presiding member. In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the minister is the presiding and actual head of government. In such systems, the head of state or the head of states official representative usually holds a ceremonial position. The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of the Legislature or the Lower House thereof and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise powers that are constitutionally vested in the crown. The first actual usage of the prime minister or Premier Ministre was used by Cardinal Richelieu when in 1625 he was named to head the royal council as prime minister of France. Louis XIV and his descendants generally attempted to avoid giving this title to their chief ministers, the term prime minister in the sense that we know it originated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom when members of parliament disparagingly used the title in reference to Sir Robert Walpole. Over time, however, the title became honorific and remains so in the 21st century, the monarchs of England and the United Kingdom had ministers in whom they placed special trust and who were regarded as the head of the government. Examples were Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII, William Cecil, Lord Burghley under Elizabeth I, Clarendon under Charles II and these ministers held a variety of formal posts, but were commonly known as the minister, the chief minister, the first minister and finally the prime minister. The power of ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the skills of holding high office. Although there was a cabinet, it was appointed entirely by the monarch, when the monarch grew tired of a first minister, he or she could be dismissed, or worse, Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister from becoming too powerful, late in Annes reign, for example, the Tory ministers Harley and St John shared power. The monarch could no longer any law or impose any tax without its permission. It is at point that a modern style of prime minister begins to emerge. A tipping point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714, George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in Hanover, and had neither knowledge of, nor interest in, the details of English government

13.
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
–
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was the general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson winning an overall majority of just 3 seats. The election of February that year had produced a hung parliament. Coalition talks between the Conservatives and other such as the Liberals and the Ulster Unionists failed, allowing Labour leader Harold Wilson to form a minority government. The October campaign was not as vigorous or exciting as the one in February, despite continuing high inflation, Labour was able to boast that it had ended the miners strike, which had dogged Heaths premiership, and had returned some stability. In the election the Labour Party won 319 seats, allowing them to form a majority government, the Scottish National Party won 11 of Scotlands 71 seats and 30% of the Scottish popular vote, their best Westminster representation until 2015. Subsequently, Labours narrow parliamentary majority had disappeared by 1977, through a series of by-election losses and they then required deals with the Liberals, the Ulster Unionists, the Scottish Nationalists and the Welsh Nationalists. This was the last general election won by Labour until 1997, the election was broadcast live on the BBC, and was presented by David Butler, Alastair Burnet, Robert McKenzie, Robin Day and Sue Lawley. The brief period between the elections gave Wilson the opportunity to demonstrate reasonable progress, despite high inflation and high balance of trade deficits the miners strike that had dogged Heath was over and some stability had been restored. Following the February election Heath had remained out of the public eye. As was expected, the campaign was not as exciting as the one in February, the Conservatives campaigned on a manifesto of national unity, in response to the mood of the public. Labour campaigned on its recent successes in government, and although the party was divided over Europe, their strengths outweighed that of Heath, who knew his future relied on an election victory. As for the Liberals and the SNP Devolution was a key issue and was now one that the two parties also felt the need to address. As for the Liberal manifesto, they reissued the one they had created for the last election. The key dates were as follows, Labour achieved a swing of 2% against the Conservatives and this was the first time since 1922 that a government had won an overall majority with less than 40% of the vote, albeit a majority of only 3. The Conservatives won just 36% of the vote, their worst share since 1945, in Scotland, the SNP added another 4 seats to their successes in the previous election to become the 4th largest party. Britain Will Win With Labour - Oct 1974 Labour Party manifesto, why Britain Needs Liberal Government - Liberal Party manifesto

14.
United Kingdom general election, 2001
–
The United Kingdom general election,2001, was held on Thursday,7 June 2001, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. 4%, compared to 71. 3% in the previous election. Tony Blair went on to become the first Labour Prime Minister to serve a second full term in office. There was little change outside Northern Ireland, with 620 out of the 641 seats electing candidates from the party as they did in 1997. Factors contributing to the Labour victory were a strong economy and falling unemployment, the Conservative Party, under William Hagues leadership, was still deeply divided on the issue of Europe and the partys policy platform was considered to have shifted to a right-wing focus. The election was essentially a repeat of the 1997 election, with Labour losing only 6 seats overall, the Conservatives did manage to gain a seat in Scotland, which ended the partys status as an England-only party in the prior parliament. Although they did not gain seats, one of the new MPs elected was future Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The Liberal Democrats gained six seats, change was seen in Northern Ireland, with the moderately unionist Ulster Unionist Party losing four seats to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party. This transition was mirrored in the community with the moderate SDLP losing votes to the more staunchly republican. The election was marked with exceptionally low voter turnout, falling below 60% for the first time since 1918. The election was broadcast live on the BBC, and presented by Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Marr, Peter Snow, as of 2015, this was the last time that a single party received above 40% of the popular vote in a British general election. The election had been expected on 3 May, to coincide with local elections, the elections were marked by voter apathy, with turnout falling to 59. 4%, the lowest since the Coupon Election of 1918. By the end of 2000, however, the dispute had been solved, in total, a mere 29 parliamentary seats changed hands at the 2001 election. 2001 also saw the election of an independent. Dr. Richard Taylor of Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern unseated a government minister, there was also a high vote for British National Party leader Nick Griffin in Oldham, in the wake of recent race riots in the town. This polarisation was also seen in the nationalist community, with the Social Democratic and Labour Party vote losing out to more left-wing and it also saw a tightening of the parties as the small UK Unionist Party lost its only seat. For Labour, the last four years had run relatively smoothly, the party had successfully defended all their by-election seats, and many suspected a Labour win was inevitable from the start. Many in the party however were afraid of voter apathy, which was epitomised in the Hague with Lady Thatchers hair poster, for William Hague, however, the Conservative Party had still not fully recovered from the loss in 1997. The party was divided over Europe, and talk of a referendum on joining the Eurozone was rife

15.
Government of the United Kingdom
–
Her Majestys Government, commonly referred to as the UK government or British government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the Prime Minister, who all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, the government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister, the Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, the current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the election on 7 May 2015. Prior to this, Cameron and the Conservatives led a government from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats. A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament, Britain is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament and this constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215. Parliament is split into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords, since the start of Edward VIIs reign, in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. Under the British system the government is required by convention and for reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply, by convention if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital, a government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house, the prime minister is held to account during Prime Ministers Question Time which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject

16.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
–
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom. The prime minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party, the office is one of the Great Offices of State. The current prime minister, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July 2016. The position of Prime Minister was not created, it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective, the origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. The political position of Prime Minister was enhanced by the development of political parties, the introduction of mass communication. By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged, prior to 1902, the prime minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his government could form a majority in the Commons. However as the power of the aristocracy waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Ministers authority was further enhanced by the Parliament Act of 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of Lords in the law-making process. The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. As the Head of Her Majestys Government the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet, in addition the Prime Minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons. As such the incumbent wields both legislative and executive powers, under the British system there is a unity of powers rather than separation. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the face and voice of Her Majestys Government. The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, in 1928, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith described this characteristic of the British constitution in his memoirs, In this country we live. Our constitutional practices do not derive their validity and sanction from any Bill which has received the assent of the King, Lords. They rest on usage, custom, convention, often of slow growth in their early stages, not always uniform, the relationships between the Prime Minister and the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the Prime Ministers executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still vested in the Sovereign

17.
Hereditary peer
–
Hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over eight hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, Peers are called to the House of Lords with a writ of summons. A hereditary title is not necessarily a title of the peerage, for instance, baronets and baronetesses may pass on their titles, but they are not peers. Conversely, the holder of a title may belong to the peerage. Peerages may be created by means of letters patent, but the granting of new hereditary peerages has dwindled, with six having been created since 1965. The hereditary peerage, as it now exists, combines several different English institutions with analogous ones from Scotland and Ireland, English Earls are an Anglo-Saxon institution. Around 1014, England was divided into shires or counties, largely to defend against the Danes, each shire was led by a great man, called an earl. When the Normans conquered England, they continued to appoint earls, but not for all counties, Earldoms began as offices, with a perquisite of a share of the legal fees in the county, they gradually became honours, with a stipend of £20 a year. Like most feudal offices, earldoms were inherited, but the kings frequently asked earls to resign or exchange earldoms, William the Conqueror and Henry II did not make Dukes, they were themselves only Dukes of Normandy or Aquitaine. But when Edward III of England declared himself King of France, he made his sons Dukes, to them from other noblemen. Later Kings created Marquesses and Viscounts to make finer gradations of honour, which men were ordered to Council varied from Council to Council, a man might be so ordered once and never again, or all his life, but his son and heir might never go. Under Henry VI of England, in the 15th century, just before the Wars of the Roses, the first claim of hereditary right to a writ comes from this reign, so does the first patent, or charter declaring a man to be a Baron. The five orders began to be called Peers, holders of older peerages also began receive greater honour than Peers of the same rank just created. If a man held a peerage, his son would succeed to it, if he had no children, if he had a single daughter, his son-in-law would inherit the family lands, and usually the same Peerage, more complex cases were decided depending on circumstances. Customs changed with time, Earldoms were the first to be hereditary, after Henry II became the Lord of Ireland, he and his successors began to imitate the English system as it was in their time. A writ does not create a peerage in Ireland, all Irish peerages are by patent or charter, in the 18th century, Irish peerages became rewards for English politicians, limited only by the concern that they might go to Dublin and interfere with the Irish Government. Scotland evolved a system, differing in points of detail

18.
House of Lords
–
The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords are appointed, the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England, of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men, while the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 805 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons, while it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process, Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. This new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland, the Parliament of England developed from the Magnum Concilium, the Great Council that advised the King during medieval times. This royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, the first English Parliament is often considered to be the Model Parliament, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it. The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, further developments occurred during the reign of Edward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings reign that Parliament clearly separated into two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the fifteenth century

19.
Lords Spiritual
–
The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 bishops of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, and the Anglican churches in Wales and Northern Ireland, the Church of England comprises 42 dioceses, each led by a diocesan bishop. The diocesan bishops of Canterbury and York are archbishops, who also have oversight over their respective provinces, the occupants of the five great sees—Canterbury, York, London, Durham and Winchester—are always spiritual peers and Lords of Parliament. The Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe may not sit in the House of Lords regardless of seniority as their dioceses lie outside the United Kingdom, of the remaining 35 bishops, the 21 most senior sit in the House of Lords. Seniority is determined by length of service as an English diocesan bishop. Theoretically, the power to elect archbishops and bishops is vested in the diocesan college of canons. Practically, however, the choice of the archbishop or bishop is made prior to the election, one of the Lords Spiritual is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the convenor of the bench, he or she coordinates the work of the bishops in the House. David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, was appointed the current convenor on 18 May 2015, authorities differ on whether the Lords Spiritual are peers. Some contend that archbishops and diocesan bishops are peers during their tenures in the House of Lords, debretts Peerage and Baronetage, for example, unequivocally states, Diocesan Bishops of England in the Lords are — peers of the kingdom. On the other hand, the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 suggests, even during the early years of the Peerage, the position of bishops was unclear. The claim was neither agreed nor disagreed to, however, by Parliament, the Lords Spiritual at first declared themselves entirely outside the jurisdiction of secular authorities, the question of trial in the House of Lords did not arise. When papal authority was great, the King could do little, later, however, when the power of the Pope in England was reduced, the Lords Spiritual came under the authority of the secular courts. Despite their failure to be tried as temporal peers in the House of Lords, if the bishops were only Lords of Parliament, and not peers, their right to petition would be vitiated while Parliament was dissolved. Peers, however, were and still are counsellors of the Sovereign whether Parliament is in session or not, therefore, if the bishops were indeed peers, they would be free to send petitions. Nevertheless, the Standing Orders of the House of Lords provide, in the early history of the Parliament of England, the Lords Spiritual—including the abbots—outnumbered the Lords Temporal. Between 1536 and 1540, however, King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, for the first time and thereafter, Lords Spiritual formed a minority in the House of Lords. Bishops, abbots, and priors, of the Church of Scotland traditionally sat in the Parliament of Scotland, laymen acquired the monasteries in 1560, following the Scottish Reformation, and therefore those sitting as abbots and priors were all laymen after this time. Bishops of the Church of Scotland continued to sit, regardless of their religious conformity, Roman Catholic clergy were excluded in 1567, but Episcopal bishops continued to sit until they too were excluded in 1638

20.
George Carey
–
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton, PC, FRSA is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. George Carey was born on 13 November 1935 in the East End of London in the United Kingdom and he attended Bonham Road Primary School in Dagenham, then failed his 11-plus. He then attended Bifrons Secondary Modern School in Barking before leaving at the age of 15. He worked for the London Electricity Board as a boy before starting his National Service at age 18 in the Royal Air Force as a wireless operator. Carey became a committed Christian at age 17 when he attended a service with some friends. He said that I had an experience which was very real. There were no blinding lights, simply a quiet conviction I had found something and he graduated in 1962 with a 2,1 Bachelor of Divinity degree and was subsequently ordained. He later obtained a Master of Theology degree and a Ph. D. from the University of Durham, Carey is the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to have been a graduate of either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. The last Archbishop of Canterbury prior to Carey who was not a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge was Simon Sudbury. Carey was a curate at St Marys Islington, worked at Oak Hill Theological College and St Johns Theological College, Nottingham and became Vicar of St Nicholas Church, within two years he had trebled the congregation. He later wrote a book on his experiences there called The Church in the Market Place, in 1982, Carey was appointed Principal of Trinity College, Bristol. He became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1987, he was consecrated a bishop by Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Southwark Cathedral on 3 December 1987 and enthroned in February 1988. The religious correspondent for The Times, Clifford Longley, commented that Mrs Thatchers known impatience with theological and moral woolliness, Carey was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury on 27 March 1991 and enthroned on 19 April 1991. On 31 October 2002, he retired from office and was created the day a crossbench life peer as Baron Carey of Clifton. He was succeeded by Rowan Williams, Carey is currently the Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire and the London School of Theology. He is also an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners, Careys theological roots are in the Evangelical tradition of the Church of England. Carey is tolerant of divorce and divorced people and the remarriage of divorced people, One of his sons is divorced and he also supported the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker-Bowles, whose first husband is living. He opposed homosexual relationships among members of the clergy, although he admits to having consecrated two bishops whom he suspected of having same-sex partners and he presided over the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and actively supported the conferences resolution which uncompromisingly rejected all homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture

21.
Archbishop of Canterbury
–
The current archbishop is Justin Welby. His enthronement took place at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the Apostle to the English, sent from Rome in the year 597. From the time of Augustine in the 6th until the 16th century, during the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. In the Middle Ages there was variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, today the archbishop fills four main roles, He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the eastern parts of the County of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English church and he is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England. He is the primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a part in national ceremonies such as coronations, due to his high public profile. As spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognised by convention as primus inter pares of all Anglican primates worldwide, since 1867 he has convened more or less decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, the Lambeth Conferences. In the last two of these functions he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England, the archbishops main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, as holder of one of the five great sees, the Archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. He is one of the men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdoms order of precedence. Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English monarch, today the choice is made in the name of the monarch by the prime minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad-hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission. Since the 20th century, the appointment of Archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between more moderate Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, the current archbishop, Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signs himself as + Justin Cantuar and his predecessor, Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February 2003. Immediately prior to his appointment to Canterbury, Williams was the Bishop of Monmouth, on 18 March 2012, Williams announced he would be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In addition to his office, the archbishop also holds a number of positions, for example, he is Joint President of the Council of Christians. Some positions he formally holds ex officio and others virtually so, geoffrey Fisher, 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960

22.
Devolution
–
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization, devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority may be temporary and are reversible. Thus, the state de jure unitary. Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the way as any statute. In federal systems, by contrast, sub-unit government is guaranteed in the constitution, the sub-units therefore have a lower degree of protection under devolution than under federalism. It has six states and two territories with power than states. The Northern Territory of Australia refused statehood in a 1998 referendum, the rejection was a surprise to both the Australian and Northern Territory governments. Territory legislation can be disallowed by the Commonwealth Parliament in Canberra, although Canada is a federal state, a large portion of its land mass in the north is under the legislative jurisdiction of the federal government. This has been the case since 1870, since the 1970s, the federal government has been transferring its decision-making powers to northern governments. This means greater local control and accountability by northerners for decisions central to the future of the territories, Yukon was carved from the Northwest Territories in 1898 but it remained a federal territory. Subsequently, in 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from the Northwest Territories, other portions of Ruperts Land were added to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, extending the provinces northward from their previous narrow band around the St. Lawrence and lower Great Lakes. The District of Ungava was an administrative district of Canadas Northwest Territories from 1895 to 1912. The continental areas of district were transferred by the Parliament of Canada with the adoption of the Quebec Boundary Extension Act,1898. The status of the interior of Labrador which was believed part of Ungava was settled in 1927 by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which ruled in favour of Newfoundland. In 1999, the government created Nunavut pursuant to a land claim agreement reached with Inuit. The offshore islands to the west and north of Quebec remained part of the Northwest Territories until the creation of Nunavut in 1999, since that time, the federal government has slowly devolved legislative jurisdiction to the territories. Enabling the territories to become more self-sufficient and prosperous and to play a role in the Canadian federation is considered a key component to development in Canada’s North

23.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses

24.
Wales
–
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh

25.
Northern Ireland
–
Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule

26.
Westminster
–
Westminster is an area of central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically the area lay within St Margarets parish, City & Liberty of Westminster and it has been the home of the permanent institutions of Englands government continuously since about 1200 and is now the seat of British government. In a government context, Westminster often refers to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the closest tube stations are Westminster, St Jamess Park on the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines. Within the area is Westminster School, a public school which grew out of the Abbey. Bounding Westminster to the north is Green Park, a Royal Park of London, the area has a substantial resident population, indeed most of its listed buildings are residential. A proportion of residents are people of limited means, living in council, hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist nearer to Buckingham Palace. The name describes an area no more than 1 mile from Westminster Abbey, the settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a church, St Margarets Westminster for the servants of the palace. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a local government unit until created as a civil parish. Indeed, the Cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, as such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built, the abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson onwards. From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and Englands law courts, thus London developed two focal points, the City of London and Westminster. The monarchs later moved to St James Palace and the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east, the main law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice. The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex, the ancient parish was St Margaret, after 1727 this became the civil parish of St Margaret and St John, the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by —, until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John, which was based at Westminster City Hall in Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields, Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction

27.
Scottish Government
–
The Scottish Government is Scotlands devolved government. It was formally renamed in 2012 to the Scottish Government by section 12 of the Scotland Act 2012, the government consists of cabinet secretaries, who attend cabinet meetings, and ministers, who do not. It is led by the first minister, who selects the cabinet secretaries, the Scottish Government is responsible for devolved matters, and those not explicitly reserved to the British Parliament in Westminster, by Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998. Devolved matters that were decided on by the Scotland Act 1998 included healthcare provision, education, justice, policing, rural affairs, economic development, the Scottish Government also has administrative responsibility for some matters where it does not have legislative power. An example is Sections 36 &37 of the Electricity Act 1989 which allow the Scottish Government to authorise power transmission lines and grant power generation consents. The Scottish Governments budget is decided upon by the grant that is formulated using the Barnett Formula with the ability to also increase or decrease income tax rates. In the financial year of 2016–17, the annual budget was £37.2 billion. The government is led by the First Minister, the Scottish Parliament nominates one of its members to be appointed as first minister by the monarch. He or she is assisted by various cabinet secretaries with individual portfolios, Ministers are similarly appointed to assist cabinet secretaries in their work. The Scottish law officers, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, can be appointed from outside the parliaments membership and they are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the first minister. The first minister, the secretaries and the Scottish law officers are the members of the Scottish Government. They are collectively known as the Scottish Ministers, the members of the government have substantial influence over legislation in Scotland, putting forward the majority of bills that are successful in becoming Acts of the Scottish Parliament. The structure of the team used by the Scottish National Party after its election victory in May 2007 differs from those used by previous governments. The title cabinet secretary was introduced to replace what were called ministers, the cabinet secretaries and ministers are, The Scottish Cabinet is the group of ministers who are collectively responsible for all Scottish Government policy. While parliament is in session, the cabinet meets weekly, normally meetings are held on Tuesday afternoons in Bute House, the official residence of the first minister. The cabinet consists of the secretaries, excluding the Scottish Law Officers. The Lord Advocate attends meetings of the cabinet only when requested by the first minister, the cabinet is supported by the Cabinet Secretariat, which is based at St Andrews House. Scottish Government also includes a service that supports the Scottish ministers

28.
Welsh Government
–
The Welsh Government is the executive of the devolved National Assembly for Wales. The government consists of cabinet secretaries, who attend meetings, and ministers who do not. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, the government is responsible for tabling policy in devolved areas for consideration by the assembly and implementing policy that has been approved by it. As initially established, the Welsh Government had no independent executive powers in law, following separation, the Welsh ministers exercise functions in their own right. Further transfers of functions from the British government can be made directly to the Welsh ministers by an Order in Council approved by the British parliament. Separation was designed to clarify the roles of the assembly. The result mirrored much more closely the relationship between the British government and British parliament and that between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. This separation between the two bodies took effect on the appointment of the First Minister by Queen Elizabeth II following the election on 3 May 2007. Separation was meant to clarify the roles of the assembly. The role of the government is to make decisions, develop and implement policy, exercise executive functions, Assembly measures can now go further than the subordinate legislation which the assembly had the power to make prior to 2007. The assemblys functions, including that of making subordinate legislation, in the main, a third body was also established under the 2006 Act from May 2007, called the National Assembly for Wales Commission. It employs the staff supporting the new National Assembly for Wales, the 2006 Act made new provision for the appointment of Welsh ministers. The First Minister is nominated by the Assembly and then appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, the First Minister then appoints the Welsh Ministers and the Deputy Welsh Ministers, with the approval of Her Majesty. The Act created a new post of Counsel General for Wales, the Counsel General is appointed by the Queen, on the nomination of the First Minister, whose recommendation must be agreed by the National Assembly. The Counsel General may be, but does not have to be, the Act permits a maximum of 12 Welsh Ministers, which includes Deputy Welsh Ministers, but excludes the First Minister and the Counsel General. Accordingly, the size of the Welsh Government is 14. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Government of Wales Act 2006, the government is composed of cabinet secretaries and ministers. The counsel general attends cabinet meetings, the current government is formed by Welsh Labour and also the sole Liberal Democrats Assembly Member, Kirsty Williams

29.
Legislature
–
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7

30.
Federal government of the United States
–
The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms

31.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

32.
President of the United States
–
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation

33.
Electoral College (United States)
–
Citizens of the United States vote in each state at a general election to choose a slate of electors pledged to vote for a partys candidate. The Twelfth Amendment requires each elector to cast one vote for president, each state chooses electors, amounting in number to that states combined total of senators and representatives. There are a total of 538 electors, corresponding to the 435 representatives and 100 senators, the Constitution bars any federal official, elected or appointed, from being an elector. The Office of the Federal Register is charged with administering the Electoral College, all states except Maine and Nebraska and California before 1913 have chosen electors on a winner-take-all basis since the 1880s. Under the winner-take-all system, the electors are awarded to the candidate with the most votes in that state. Maine and Nebraska use the congressional district method, selecting one elector within each district by popular vote. Although no elector is required by law to honor their pledge. If no person receives a majority of votes for vice president, then the Senate will select the vice president. The Constitutional Convention in 1787 used the Virginia Plan as the basis for discussions, the Virginia Plan called for the Congress to elect the president. Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election, however once the Electoral College had been decided on, several delegates openly recognized its ability to protect the election process from cabal, corruption, intrigue, and faction. Some delegates, including James Wilson and James Madison, preferred popular election of the executive, the right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States, and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to the fewest objections, the Convention approved the Committees Electoral College proposal, with minor modifications, on September 6,1787. Delegates from states with smaller populations or limited land area such as Connecticut, New Jersey, in The Federalist Papers, James Madison explained his views on the selection of the president and the Constitution. 39, Madison argued the Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government, Congress would have two houses, the state-based Senate and the population-based House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the president would be elected by a mixture of the two modes, alexander Hamilton in Federalist No.68 laid out what he believed were the key advantages to the Electoral College. The electors come directly from the people and them alone for that purpose only and this avoided a party-run legislature, or a permanent body that could be influenced by foreign interests before each election. Hamilton explained the election was to place among all the states. The choice was to be made by a majority of the Electoral College, Hamilton argued, electors meeting in the state capitals were able to have information unavailable to the general public

34.
Vice President of the United States
–
The executive power of both the vice president and the president is granted under Article Two, Section One of the Constitution. The vice president is elected, together with the president. The Office of the Vice President of the United States assists, as the president of the United States Senate, the vice president votes only when it is necessary to break a tie. Additionally, pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the president presides over the joint session of Congress when it convenes to count the vote of the Electoral College. Currently, the president is usually seen as an integral part of a presidents administration. The Constitution does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing a dispute among scholars whether it belongs to the executive branch, the legislative branch, or both. The modern view of the president as a member of the executive branch is due in part to the assignment of executive duties to the vice president by either the president or Congress. Mike Pence of Indiana is the 48th and current vice president and he assumed office on January 20,2017. The formation of the office of vice president resulted directly from the compromise reached at the Philadelphia Convention which created the Electoral College, the delegates at Philadelphia agreed that each state would receive a number of presidential electors equal to the sum of that states allocation of Representatives and Senators. The delegates assumed that electors would typically choose to favor any candidate from their state over candidates from other states, under a plurality election process, this would tend to result in electing candidates solely from the largest states. Consequently, the delegates agreed that presidents must be elected by a majority of the number of electors. To guard against such stratagems, the Philadelphia delegates specified that the first runner-up presidential candidate would become vice president, the process for selecting the vice president was later modified in the Twelfth Amendment. Each elector still receives two votes, but now one of those votes is for president, while the other is for vice president. The requirement that one of those votes be cast for a candidate not from the electors own state remains in effect. S, other statutorily granted roles include membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As President of the Senate, the president has two primary duties, to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over. For example, in the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheneys tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority, as President of the Senate, the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote. As President of the Senate, John Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes that was surpassed by John C. Calhoun with 31. Adamss votes protected the presidents sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, on at least one occasion Adams persuaded senators to vote against legislation he opposed, and he frequently addressed the Senate on procedural and policy matters

35.
United States House of Representatives
–
The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House

36.
United States Senate
–
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures

37.
United States bankruptcy court
–
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising under the bankruptcy code, each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters. The current system of courts was created by United States Congress in 1978. The bankruptcy judges in each district in regular active service constitute a unit of the applicable United States district court. The bankruptcy judge is appointed for a term of 14 years by the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the district is located. Technically, the United States district courts have subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters, however, each such district court may, by order, refer bankruptcy matters to the bankruptcy court. As a practical matter, most district courts have a standing order to that effect, so that all bankruptcy cases in that district are handled, at least initially. In unusual circumstances, a court may in a particular case “withdraw the reference” under 28 U. S. C. The overwhelming majority of all proceedings in bankruptcy are held before a United States bankruptcy judge, in some judicial circuits, appeals may be taken to a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. The Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure govern procedure in the U. S. bankruptcy courts, decisions of the Bankruptcy Courts are not collected and published in an official reporter produced by the government. Instead, the de facto official source for opinions of the Bankruptcy Courts is Wests Bankruptcy Reporter, Bankruptcy courts appoint a trustee to represent the interests of the creditors and administer the cases. Trustee appoints Chapter 7 trustees for a period of 1 year

38.
United States Tax Court
–
The Tax Court specializes in adjudicating disputes over federal income tax, generally prior to the time at which formal tax assessments are made by the Internal Revenue Service. Tax Court judges are appointed for a term of 15 years, subject to removal for inefficiency, neglect of duty. The first incarnation of the Tax Court was the U. S, Board of Tax Appeals, established by Congress in the Revenue Act of 1924 in order to address the increasing complexity of tax-related litigation. Those serving on the Board were simply designated as members, the members of the Board were empowered to select, on a biennial basis, one of their members as chairman. The Board originally had 16 members, with Charles D. Hamel serving as the first Chairman, the Board was initially established as an independent agency in the executive branch of the government. It was housed in the Internal Revenue Service Building in the Federal Triangle, the first session of the Board of Tax Appeals spanned July 16,1924 to May 31,1925. In 1942, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1942, renaming the Board as the Tax Court of the United States, with this change, the Members became Judges and the Chairman became the Presiding Judge. By 1956, overcrowding and the desire to separate judicial and executive powers led to attempts to relocate the court. In 1962, Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon appealed to the U. S, general Services Administration to incorporate funds for the design of a new building in its upcoming budget. The GSA allocated $450,000, and commissioned renowned architect Victor A. Lundy, however, funding constraints brought on by the Vietnam War delayed the start of construction until 1972. The Tax Court was again renamed to its current formal designation in the Tax Reform Act of 1969, the completed United States Tax Court Building was dedicated on November 22,1974, the fiftieth anniversary of the Revenue Act that created the court. This exclusively judicial role distinguishes it from other non-Article III tribunals that perform multiple functions, thus, Freytag concluded that the Tax Court exercises judicial, rather than executive, legislative, or administrative, power. The President, however, may remove the Tax Court judges, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, for inefficiency, neglect of duty, justice Scalia penned a separate concurrence for four justices in Freytag. These justices dissented as to the Court majoritys rationale, they would have characterized the Tax Courts power as executive rather than judicial, Scalia said that to him it seem. Entirely obvious that the Tax Court, like the Internal Revenue Service, the FCC, and the NLRB, exercises executive power. Under an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 enacted in late 2015, the U. S. Tax Court is not an agency of, and shall be independent of, the executive branch of the Government. However, section 7443 of the Code still provides that a Tax Court judge may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Tax Court provides a forum in which affected persons can dispute tax deficiencies determined by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue prior to payment of the disputed amounts

The old Chamber of the House of Commons built by Sir Charles Barry was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War. The essential features of Barry's design were preserved when the Chamber was rebuilt.

Another picture of the old House of Commons chamber. Note the dark veneer on the wood, which was purposely made much brighter in the new chamber.

The Speaker presides over debates in the House of Commons, as depicted in the above print commemorating the destruction of the Commons Chamber by fire in 1834.

Wales ((listen); Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəmri] (listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of …

Britain in AD 500: The areas shaded pink on the map were inhabited by the CelticBritons, here labelled Welsh. The pale blue areas in the east were controlled by Germanic tribes, whilst the pale green areas to the north were inhabited by the Gaels and Picts.

Though prominent as a Missouri Senator, Harry Truman had been vice president only three months when he became president; he was never informed of Franklin Roosevelt's war or postwar policies while vice president.

Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals (by color) and United States District Courts. All District Courts lie within the boundary of a single jurisdiction usually in a state (heavier lines); some states have more than one District Court (lighter lines denote those jurisdictions)